Daily Sound in Dire Straits?
Paper Stops Printing for Rest of Week; Future of Six-Year-Old Publication Uncertain
The Daily Sound, Santa Barbara’s six-year-old, five-times-a-week free newspaper, appears to be hitting the hardest of times: an email sent out today by the founder and publisher, Jeramy Gordon, to some of those associated with the publication and its sister paper, the Montecito Messenger, said that it had ceased publishing as of this week due to cash flow problems.
The news does not come as a total shock, as there were numerous reports over the years of an outstanding business loan to Montecito Bank & Trust. More recently, some of the paper’s employees have reported trouble getting paid, others have left abruptly, and the publisher has been soliciting donations from the general public to keep it afloat.
When contacted, however, Gordon denied that the paper had published its last issue. “Due to unforeseen circumstances we will not be publishing either the Daily Sound or the Montecito Messenger for the remainder of this week,” said Gordon in an email to The Independent. “The company is not going out of business. All employees will stay on staff and we will continue to update our website on a regular basis. The Daily Sound is still alive, it just will not be in print for the next couple of days.”
Gordon said that the staff’s work will be published on the website, and promised, “We will be back in print sometime next week. We are working very hard to get this situation resolved as soon as possible.”
And early this evening, on the Daily Sound website, Gordon reiterated some of those same lines, explaining in a “Note to Print Edition Readers”: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, The Daily Sound and Montecito Messenger will temporarily halt their print versions. In the meantime, we will continue to provide the best news possible on both our websites and will have this situation resolved quickly. Our print products will return soon with a vibrant redesign and relaunch. We appreciate your patience.”
